GP vs. Physician

Difference Between GP and Physician

GP and Doctor are both medical doctors. In a majority of people, it does not really matter what the designation of the person treating them is as long as they receive medical treatment. To them, they are all doctors. In a sense they are right. If it’s a GP or a doctor, the person is medically trained and is actually a doctor. What is the difference between a GP and a doctor and why should it concern you? This article will try to accentuate the differences between the two types of doctors to make it easier for you the next time you need treatment and advice about any health problem.

GP

General Practitioners (GP) are the doctors (MBBS) who have taken their preliminary medical degree which takes 4-5 years of study in a medical college. A GP is present to provide primary public health care to people. Most people get used to see these doctors as they call up the clinics where they see patients and are allowed to write prescriptions for patients. These are the doctors who perform four years of medical school and then undergo a further 3 years residentship. In these three years they go through a lot of practice and practicing hands in different departments of a hospital. It is the GP who is the first doctor people talk to when they have any health problem. GP is considered as a family doctor, in a sense this is true because it develops a long term relationship with family members of a patient and becomes family a doctor at all. GP does not have a specialty and does not as such designation around his name, but he is a doctor who is more familiar with the diagnosis of general health problems.

Physician

The word Physician is a synonym for doctor. But physicians have invested another eight years of their life in medical college undergoing specialization. He is the holder of MBBS degree pursuing higher education specializing in specific field of medicine such as cardiology, urology, endocrinology etc. That’s when he became a physician. He is also called a hospital doctor as he is a specialist and different from GP. He is normally attached with several hospitals and treats patients referred by GP as these patients are critically ill and beyond the limits of treatment at home.

A GP, when he believes a patient requires specialized care and treatment refer such a patient to a physician. There are several physicians at a hospital taking care of different organs inside the body of patients. Some examples of physicians are the neurologist who treats brain diseases, the cardiologist who treats patients of heart and an endocrinologist who treats glandular problems, the gynecologist who treats diseases of ladies and so on.

Then there are certain types of physicians who work behind the scenes in the laboratories of science as microbiologists and pathologists.